Restarted the game 3 times, same issue. Skipped qualifying and got the same issue in the race. I'm using automatic gears, cosmetic damage and mechanical damage off.
At the end, I'm doing nothing else but racing in a straight line. I tried to use the same car in quick race (or whatever it's called) and had no issues. Haven't played the game since.

Just check your tuning setup before starting the race, sometimes the gear ratios get messed up. It's easy to always check them before racing, there will probably be a fix for that bug. But until then, checking the setup and correcting it is a quick and easy way to avoid frustration.